Tallstar's Revenge (15 page)

C
HAPTER
13

“Rabbit!” Dawnstripe dropped into a crouch,
her gaze fixed on a small, brown shape bobbing up the slope. Tallpaw pressed his belly to the ground. He glanced at Reena.

She was already flat against the grass, her tail twitching behind her. “I see it,” she whispered. “What now, Tall?”

“Tall
paw
,” he hissed under his breath.

Reena had joined Tallpaw for his training session while Shrewpaw patrolled the boundaries with Hareflight. Their pelts were wind ruffled after a morning practicing prey-hunting skills. Now they had a chance to test them for real.

“Should I stalk from behind while you two get either side?” Reena was proving to be a natural at planning an attack, even though she didn't have the speed of a WindClan cat.

Dawnstripe narrowed her eyes. “Can you move in without alarming it, Reena?” She glanced at Tallpaw. “We'll need time to cut off its escape routes.” She pointed her muzzle toward a cluster of sandy dips in the grass beside the grazing rabbit. “If it gets to that warren, we've lost it.”

“I'm good at moving quietly,” Reena promised. “And Tallpaw's fast enough to catch that critter at the mouth of its hole!”

Tallpaw twitched his tail with pleasure. Training with Reena was far better than training with grouchy Shrewpaw. Dawnstripe nodded him to the wind side of the rabbit. She trusted him to gauge his own scent drift. Tallpaw licked his nose and felt for the breeze. He could probably get halfway to the rabbit before it picked up his smell. Dawnstripe began stalking over the grass, keeping low.

Tallpaw nodded to Reena. “Good luck,” he whispered, and crept slowly upslope, keeping to one side of the clear grass while Reena padded forward.

The rabbit bobbed farther along the hill, nibbling at greenleaf shoots. Dawnstripe moved in steadily. Tallpaw padded over the soft grass without ruffling it. He paused as he neared the rabbit. Any closer and the wind would carry his scent straight to it. He glanced across the slope at Dawnstripe. She was close to the warren. He waited until she'd slid into place and blocked the rabbit's path to safety.

Reena was moving in behind, her ginger-and-white pelt bright against the grass. But she was creeping slowly with movements so tiny, no prey would notice. The rabbit hopped a few more steps. Tallpaw sped up. He saw Dawnstripe nod and broke into a run, racing for the kill. Reena surged forward. Dawnstripe leaped. The rabbit bolted, kicking grass in its wake as it fled upslope.

Tallpaw plunged into a flat-out sprint, Reena close on his heels. Dawnstripe closed in from the side. The rabbit was only a tail-length away. Tallpaw pounced, claws unsheathed.

He hit bare grass. “Where'd it go?” Blinking, he spun around. The rabbit had disappeared.

Reena scrambled to a halt, ears flat. “It found a hole.” She sniffed at an opening in the ground, covered by long grass that was crushed flat where the rabbit had plunged through.

Dawnstripe lashed her tail. “There's no way we could have seen that hole—” As she spoke, paw steps echoed from inside. Fur exploded from it as the terrified rabbit hurtled out.

Tallpaw didn't stop to think. He sprang forward, slamming his paws onto the rabbit's spine, and sank his teeth into its neck to give a killing bite.

Gray fur flashed at the edge of his vision. “I thought I smelled rabbit.” Tallpaw looked up to see Woollytail emerge from the hole.

“What were you doing in there?” Reena blinked at the tunneler, her eyes clouded with confusion. “Were you waiting for it?”

“No,” Woollytail meowed. “It surprised me as much as I surprised it. One moment I was propping up a crumbling roof; the next, paws are thumping toward me. I'm not going to ignore prey if it's running toward me, so I chased it.” He broke into a purr. “I didn't realize I was part of a hunting team.”

Dawnstripe lifted her tail. “We're lucky you were down there.”

Tallpaw licked blood from his lips, the warm tang making his belly rumble. “Who's in there with you?”

“Sandgorse and Plumclaw are working on the second gorge tunnel,” Woollytail explained. “I was on my way back to camp when I saw the crumbling roof. I thought I'd fix it before it caved in.”

Dawnstripe was looking confused. “Second gorge tunnel?” she echoed. “Isn't one enough?”

“Not with the river being so unpredictable,” Woollytail meowed. “After the first one flooded, we knew we were going to need more than one route. You never know—”

Dawnstripe cut him off. “The first one
flooded
?” Her gaze snapped to Tallpaw. “What does he mean?”

Tallpaw backed away from the rabbit. “The tunnel kind of flooded while I was working on it with Sandgorse.”

“
Kind of
flooded?” Dawnstripe's eyes widened.

Woollytail shook earth from his pelt. “It was just a miscalculation,” he told her. “We dug too low the first time. The new tunnel's at the right level now, but come leaf-bare and snowmelt, the river's going to fill it, so we need a second one, higher up.”

Dawnstripe was staring at Tallpaw as though Woollytail hadn't spoken. “Were you okay?”

Tallpaw tried to stop his pelt from pricking at the memory. “I didn't even get my paws wet.”

Woollytail snorted, amused. “He's a great tunnel runner.”

Dawnstripe's tail bushed out. “You had to
run
?”

“It was either that or drown,” Woollytail told her.

“You could have been killed!” Dawnstripe's fur lifted along her spine. Tallpaw couldn't tell if she was more frightened or angry.

“I was okay,” he reassured her. “Sandgorse was with me.”

“Tunneling near the gorge is too dangerous,” Dawnstripe declared.

Reena stepped forward, her eyes round. “Why do you tunnel
at all
?”

“WindClan cats have always tunneled,” Woollytail mewed.

Reena peered into the rabbit hole. “And there are cats underground right now?” She sounded amazed.

“Of course.”

Reena shuddered. “Do you sleep down there?”

Tallpaw's pelt pricked with irritation. Why was she acting like it was so creepy? “Sandgorse and Palebird are tunnelers, too,” he huffed. “They're all WindClan warriors, you know.”

“Sandgorse and Palebird kitted you, right?” Reena's eyes rounded with curiosity as he nodded. “Why aren't
you
a tunneler, then?”

Tallpaw dropped his gaze, feeling hot beneath his pelt. “Heatherstar thought I'd make a better moor runner.”

“Moor runner,”
Woollytail muttered under his breath. “We've too many runners. Not enough diggers.”

Dawnstripe had been pacing. She stopped in front of Woollytail. “Does Heatherstar know about the flood?”

“Why should she?” Woollytail answered. “She's no tunneler.”

“We need to tell her.”

Tallpaw's belly twisted. He sensed trouble.

“Hey,
Wormpaw
!”

Shrewpaw
. Tallpaw turned and saw his denmate charging toward him.
That's all I need.
Hareflight bounded after his apprentice.

“We're going to Outlook Rock.” Shrewpaw stopped beside them. He glanced at Reena. “Do you want to come with us?”

“They look busy,” Hareflight warned. “Don't let us hold you up, Dawnstripe.”

“I'm returning to camp with Woollytail,” Dawnstripe growled.

Hareflight pricked his ears. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing.” Dawnstripe glanced at Woollytail. “But could you take Tallpaw with you to Outlook Rock?”

Hareflight swished his tail. “Of course.”

“What about me?” Reena stepped forward. “Can I come?”

Shrewpaw looked at Hareflight. “Can she?”

“She doesn't need to know
everything
about how WindClan trains its warriors.” Hareflight swapped looks with Dawnstripe. “Perhaps you could take her back to camp?”

Reena's shoulders slumped. “I'll be no trouble; I promise.”

“Bess'll be missing you.” Dawnstripe beckoned Reena with her tail. “Let's go.” She grabbed Tallpaw's rabbit in her jaws as she and Woollytail started to walk away. His tail-tip was flicking angrily.

“Come on, then, you two!” Hareflight broke into a run, heading uphill.

Shrewpaw darted after him. Tallpaw followed, giving one last glance at Dawnstripe, Woollytail, and Reena.

Clouds were gathering on the horizon as they reached Outlook Rock. Hareflight stood on the grass where the stone jutted over the slope. “Shrewpaw, you go first. Remember, observation is an important part of your final assessment.”

Shrewpaw padded to the edge. Peering down at the meadows and forest stretching below, he began to list what he could see. “Monster. Dog by the Twolegplace. Buzzard circling Highstones . . .”

Tallpaw stuck close to his denmate, trying to spot each new find as Shrewpaw listed it. “Can I try?” he asked Hareflight, before Shrewpaw could call everything in sight. At this rate there would be nothing left for him to point out.

“Swap places,” Hareflight ordered.

Shrewpaw turned and pushed past Tallpaw. Tallpaw's heart lurched as his paws slithered on the smooth rock. Carefully he took Shrewpaw's place, bracing himself against the breeze. “I can smell the Thunderpath,” he called to Hareflight. “It smells as though monsters have been traveling it all day.” He scanned the land, struggling to find something Shrewpaw had missed. On a treetop beyond the cluster of Twolegplace, he could make out some movement, and recognized the dark feathers of a bird of prey. Half guessing, he began to describe it. “A buzzard is teaching its fledglings to fly.”

“How can you see that?” Shrewpaw nosed in beside him.

Tallpaw gripped with his claws, trying to keep his place. “There!” He flicked his muzzle toward the distant tree.

“That's not a buzzard,” Shrewpaw scoffed.

Tallpaw glanced back at Hareflight. The brown warrior was squinting. “It's the right color.”

“How can you see fledglings?” Shrewpaw challenged.

“Why else would a buzzard be balancing on the edge of its nest in the middle of greenleaf?” Tallpaw retorted.

“Nice guesswork, Tallpaw,” Hareflight praised him.

“Is that what we're practicing?” Shrewpaw sneered.
“Guessing?”
He turned his tail on Tallpaw and stomped back to Hareflight's side. “I thought we were practicing our observation skills.”

Tallpaw growled under his breath. Training with Reena—even if she couldn't get his name right—had been much more fun.

 

The sun was sliding toward Highstones as they reached camp. Tallpaw's belly was rumbling. As he followed Hareflight, Shrewpaw, and Dawnstripe toward the entrance, he smelled Sandgorse and Plumclaw's fresh scents on the grass. The tunneling patrol must have returned recently. He pushed through the heather tunnel, his heart quickening as he saw Sandgorse, Plumclaw, Woollytail, Hickorynose, and Mistmouse gathered in the Meeting Hollow. Heatherstar and Reedfeather faced them stiffly.

Hareflight trotted into camp behind Tallpaw and stopped. “Looks like the tunnelers have got more news about the gorge tunnel.”

“Great.” Shrewpaw sounded unenthusiastic. He padded past his mentor. “Can I get something to eat?”

Hareflight nodded. “You too, Tallpaw,” he meowed. “You must be hungry.”

“Thanks.” Tallpaw crossed the tussocks, his gaze lingering on the Meeting Hollow.

“Tallpaw!” Reena's mew made him spin around.

The rogue she-cat was settled in a patch of sunshine beside the elders' den. A lapwing lay beside her, half-eaten. Its rich scent washed Tallpaw's tongue.

“Do you want some?” Reena called. “I can't eat all this.”

Gratefully Tallpaw hurried toward her. “What happened to the rabbit we caught?”